1cruiselvr

5 hours ago, Derbie said:

We are sailing on the Emerald 5/20/24.  The website is allowing bidding; however, when you search the cruise, it shows "sold out." Is this just a technical error? I have never bid on Princess before, so if anyone can advise, it would be greatly appreciated.

If you like your current cabin and location my opinion is don't bid. You never know what you'll get if bid is accepted. And if your cruise shows sold out, there won't be that many open and available cabins anyway. If you are a gambler and don't mind spending more money, then try bidding. That's my 2 cents on the subject. 

2 minutes ago, jwb3843 said:

@1cruiselvr  🫤 But thank you for your 

Most suites are booked, especially the lower Vista class suite. I bidded on an Owners suite. Didn't hear anything until the day b4 the cruise. Then I got a declined email but I knew my chances were slim. You never know, but don't assume anything just bc you haven't been declined yet. Good luck!

6 minutes ago, jwb3843 said:

We recently booked a GTY Mini Suite for a 7 day sailing in early May and shortly thereafter we received an invitation to bid on upgrades.  We submitted them for both a Club Class Mini Suite and a Vista Suite.  As of today we haven’t been notified of a cabin assignment, but I just received notification that our bid for the Club Class Mini Suite was unsuccessful.  Still no cabin assignment, but does anyone have an idea whether it’s a hopeful sign that we didn’t receive a “You’ve Been Outbid” email regarding the Vista Suite?  I realize we’re still more than 30 days out so there’s still plenty of time . . . Just curious to see where we’ll end up!

Nope it means nothing. Don't read into it. 

1 hour ago, caligirlfashionista said:

I was offered a counter, but I didn’twant it so I upped my bid. Has anyone tried this an won by upping their past bid?

I'd think that wouldn't help you bc other people got your same counter offer and accepted it. Upping but not meeting the counter doesn't seem like it would work. Let's us know what happens. 

11 minutes ago, rheathslc said:

Sometimes even the minimum bid is more than the cost would have been to just buy the upgrade but sometimes it's not. I think the 3rd party that handles the bidding system probably has a complex set of criteria they use to determine what they set the bid range to. 

 

For example on our upcoming cruise on March 31st on the Discovery there were still cabins available in every category when bidding opened about 68 days out. I bid on a mini-suite (original cabin was standard balcony) but then noticed the cost to just buy the upgrade outright was less than the minimum bid so I just had our TA do that.

 

After the dust settled on that I then bid for a club class mini-suite. I bid the max of $80 per person but it would have cost about $250 per person to buy that cabin upgrade.

 

From our end it may seem to have no rhyme or reason but they know what will net the highest profit and design the system accordingly. 

Did you win your cc minutes suite bid?

2 minutes ago, LN1Casey said:

This is the first time I have a cabin I was willing to put in an upgrade for, but I don't know how to tell if the bid is appropriately priced.

 

I compared what I had to what the upgrade could have cost initially (the sailing I have is sold out to price check), it seems like it'd have been cheaper to initially buy the upgrade than bid for it. Is this common, or am I missing a detail?

Nobody knows. It's a guessing game. You bid what you are comfortable paying and then wait. There's no right or wrong way to bid. I believe they include sold out categories just in case somebody cancels which misleads folks to think they are available.

1 hour ago, SpareBrew said:

We also bid the max for an Aft Penthouse and Owners Suite on Enchanted.  1 day to go and we’re not hearing anything one way or the other.  Don’t think it’ll happen. 🙁

These cabins are usually booked. I guess they offer a bid on them in case someone cancels last minute but at this late date, I think you are right that it's not going to happen. Happy cruising in whatever cabin you are in. 

4 minutes ago, TAW1963 said:

Unfortunately, I haven't received an acceptance email yet.  I just received a counteroffer email, which I accepted.  

Oh sorry I got it wrong. I thought they accepted your counter offer. Good luck. Hope it happens for you. 

9 minutes ago, TAW1963 said:

Great suggestions!  Yes, I think I am obsessed.  I check my cc and Princess accounts way too often.  We still have 3 days before sailing.  Hopefully I won't wear out my keyboard! 

I don't understand. If you got an acceptance email, then the cabin reassignment should have happened already. 

4 hours ago, TAW1963 said:

Here is an experience I am going through currently regarding a bid and a counter offer.   I have an upcoming sailing to Hawaii on the Discovery Princess, for 15-days, that leaves this Saturday (3 days from now).  We have been booked in a forward-facing Mini-Suite, which we are happy with.   A couple months ago, I put in a bid for one of the 4 forward-facing Reserve Class Mini-Suites.  I put in the maximum bid, for we really wanted to get one even though the chances were slim.   Yesterday afternoon I get an email saying that they could not accept my bid, but they gave me a counter offer for a Window Suite, which there are only two of them, that was even less than I had bid previously for the Reserve Class Mini-Suite.   I had seen some videos of these cabins, but hadn't looked at them much.  We needed to get home, from running errands, and investigate these Window Suites before we accepted.  We did accept their counter offer after about 1.5 hours from receiving the email with the offer.  I get acknowledgement that the counter bid was accepted and it shows up online as being pending.   So from late afternoon yesterday, until this morning, we have not heard back from Princess (or the sub-contractor doing the bidding).  We have probably gotten our hopes up too high, but after reading some of this thread, the few discussing counter offers many had received their upgrade acceptance email.  Does anybody have any experience on how long it takes to hear back?  Should I lowered our hopes?  Again, we sail on Saturday and this is Wednesday morning.   Thanks in advance.

Did you check your booking online with Princess to see if your cabin # has changed? Has your cc been charged?  I've never been notified beyond acceptance of my bid. I had to go to Princess website to see new cabin assignment. 

There is a thread on the bidding experience.  Look for it. I think all your questions will be answered there because everyone lists their bidding and wins.  BTW You do not have any choice in cabin location or connecting cabin when bidding.  If you win and don't like the cabin location or the cabin itself, and there are other cabins open in that category, you can request a cabin change. I won a bid once and lost once. 

On 1/11/2024 at 6:24 PM, Paula_MacFan said:

 

I don't know but I noticed the same perk listed in the Reserve Collection benefits as well.    How many people can they accomodate with 'priority specialty dining reservations'?

 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/ships/staterooms/reserve-collection 

We just got off the Emerald in a Suite. We  could call the same the same day for that evening but the dining reservation line closes at 5pm so the earlier you call the better. We only ate in the Crowne Grill but 3x. 

On 1/17/2024 at 8:34 PM, pistnbroke said:

Thanks for that.

do not want a connecting cabin

Never have had a problem with a connected room. 

52 minutes ago, HiCCCs said:

It's news that I either hadn't understood or haven't come across. Other posts mentioned something similar....I thought they were talking about "special offers" that were coming from their travel agent or Princess. What was throwing me was that a "third party" is running the "Bid to Upgrade" program....and I thought that meant Princess was completely out of the equation. So, I wonder how Princess decides who gets a counter offer and who doesn't.

Probably the system programming. Baes upon whatever parameters they have given it. 

30 minutes ago, HiCCCs said:

Quick question.....I thought on the Bid to Upgrade program that you bid and if they accept the bid your credit card is automatically charged. You indicate being able to make a counter offer for a Premium Balcony -- which wasn't part of your initial bid from Balcony to a Mini Suite. How does that work in the Bid to Upgrade program?  Thanks for whatever information you can share on this.

 

Cheers! Happy New Years!

 

 

I could be wrong but I think Princess comes back with a counter offer. It's not something you can generate. Correct me if my understanding is incorrect 

Hubby and I will be sailing on the Emerald Princess soon. I’d like to know if full suites get complimentary access to the Thermal Suite, if Emerald has one. I’m not even sure it does. I’m very confused as to what a Vista suite (our cabin category) provides as complimentary.  Laundry I’m aware of, but that’s about it. 

I’ve never experienced it myself. My bids were either accepted or denied. Never got a new email with lower bid prices. 

BTW If you choose to have your medallions shipped to your home there is a $10 shipping fee.  Pickup at the pier is free.

We are sailing Jan 7 and received our medallions USPS a few days ago.  It sounds like from your description that they are lost in USPS land.  I'd call and find out if they are sitting at your local USPS for some reason.  That's the best you can do. Otherwise, you will have to get new medallions at the port checkin.

Thank you Andrew J. Cat for your prompt and polite response.  So it's a separate part of the MDR reserved for suite and RC mini suite pax?

Never mind.  I see others have answered this question.

We are sailing on the Emerald in Jan and our dining says Reserve Collection.  We are booked in a Vista Suite. I'm guessing the information is somewhere, but no search would provide it.  What the heck is Reserve Collection Dining? It has me confused.  Please be kind.  As I said, the information is probably buried somewhere in a thread, but as hard as I tried, I could find nothing.  Thank you. 

You are correct. 

Bidding becomes available based upon length of cruise but if I remember correctly it's somewhere around 75 days or so prior to the average cruise length. I'm sure someone has the information posted here somewhere. But but you are definitely a year too soon for a 2025 cruise. 

You won a bid for the same cabin for both cruises in your b2b?  Lucky you!!

Just now, Cruise Raider said:

I’m just assuming this .. but if there is not a suite in a higher category available, it would still make sense to put the offer out there in case the passengers in that cabin also bid on a higher category (if their is one) or if they have to cancel the cruise kind of last minute.  Some of these are last minute and it’s easier to have someone pay for the upgrade that fill it with only a few days to spare.  
 

Agree but I don’t think this logic is going to work in my case bc there are only 2 owner suite cabins onboard. They did offer penthouse suites for bidding but I’m in love with aft view and most are side cabins so I didn’t bid on them. I’m happy with my aft vista. I’m more than 30 days from sailing date of jan 7 but don’t expect anything to happen other than a reject email.